#i hate carol last | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

snikt111 · 4 months

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hi hi hi hi I found out about Hal Jordan TODAY and am going so autistic over him it’s insane can you please give me a rundown on what his deal is I think you’re the Tumblr Green Lantern guy

omg hi, insane compliment btw, tysm! i'm glad to give you a rundown!! also definitely check out @katmaatui for more hal info, red is SUPER knowledgable abt him. @rillette, @catboyollie, @halcarols, @starsapphire and @yellowcorps (along with so many others that i cant think to tag off the top of my head) have some great hal takes too! (edited the post just to tag more ppl)

apologies if this is a bit rushed/messy, i'm doing this while i smelt stone in minecraft LMAO

that being said... i think this will be a long one, so more below the cut :3

(cw for light mentions of pedophilia, abuse, canon typical violence)

okay, so hal jordan is the first human green lantern of the GREEN LANTERN CORPS. it's important to note that there was technically a human green lantern before him (alan scott, originally from earth two/the justice society, but integrated into main DC canon after crisis), but his power comes from a different source- which is a whole different ballpark that would take ages to explain, lol, so i'll move on from that.

hal was originally introduced in a showcase issue in 1959, but ended up getting a solo run in the mid 60s because of his showcase issues doing well. he's been a test pilot, middle brother, compassionate, rule follower (although being surprisingly liberal for the time) with an interesting relationship with star sapphire carol ferris since those first appearances. for the first 20 odd years of his appearances we had no information on his parents, but we got a lot from other family members, such as uncle titus, cousin hal jr (aka airwave), younger brother jim jordan and older brother jack jordan. through the 60s and 70s those members of his family were developed along with him; with the audience learning that jim's wife sue thought jim was green lantern, rather than hal, and hal himself training his cousin, hal jr.

the most known version of how hal got the ring in the first place is probably based off of geoff john's rewrite in the mid 00s, reiterating the original story of abin sur crashing onto earth and dying, leaving hal with his ring to be trained by sinestro and the rest of the glc, while also changing miniscule details that had been developed in emerald dawn 1 & 2 (which was released in the 90s, more on that later). the main premise of abin sur's crash has stayed the same, but the story around hal's current life, job, family and stability keep changing. for instance, the original comic with abin sur in showcase only showed hal getting the ring, the guardians choosing him. the first rewrite i can think of was emerald dawn volume 1, published in 1989 and continued in emerald dawn v2 (1991). here we get the classic hal watches his father die in a plane crash with carol ferris beside him as a pre adolescent, and some of the biggest implications of the mistreatment from his father. we also get introduced to hal, despite his stick to the rules, straight edge attitude, making some serious mistakes and putting people in danger and even death- with the implication of alcohol abuse. the audience HAS known hal used to be in the air force since sometime in the late 60s or early 70s (sorry, i don't remember the exact issue!), but emerald dawn shows us that hal's moved on from the air force and into test piloting, and that his mother keeps having to bail him out for making mistakes. emerald dawn vol 1 shows the abin sur moment, followed by fights that cost hal's friends life, and is followed up by sinestro training hal in emerald dawn vol 2, where we get to see the iconic scenes of hal finding out about sinestro and his... dictatorship.

along with that; how the guardians and rings are treated and hal and the glc's perception of them is vastly changed over time. in the early days of gl in the 60s, the guardians were really never to be seen. hal was repeatedly summoned to them and then had his memory almost fully wiped- only leaving a vague notion of his orders. the guardian's called hal to them at seemingly the worst times, ending up with him almost getting injured, getting in trouble at work, and even ending up jobless and homeless. the chaos of being a green lantern has been around the WHOLE time, but originally, the green lanterns didnt really... fight it. the guardian's were their masters (and even father figures, to hal) and not to be questioned. the rings in the 60s were also much more powerful, despite the yellow weakness (the yellow weakness is the notion that from about the 60s to the mid 90s the green lantern rings were completely unable to be used against anything yellow). time travel, phasing, teleporting, etc were all very viable and common things- as well as forceful shapeshifting, invisibility, mind control, mind reading, etc etc. these days, writers have dampened these powers down to mostly shooting light and constructs.

okay, it's parallax time. the emerald twilight arc from the mid 90s wasn't an arc that was as thoroughly planned out over a long period of time as it probably should have been. a lot of fans at the time (and even now) hated what happened there, and claimed it ruined hal's character entirely. i can understand why! but, at it's core, the parallax arc is a story about a broken man pushed to the limit, fully grieving his home and family (originally, he lost his brother jim in the destruction of coast city, along with a lot of other family members) and being goddamn fed up with how his "masters" treated him and the rest of the corps. the so called "perfect lantern" (no, he wasn't that much of a rebel, despite what johns wants you to think) snapped and essentially tried to gain as much power as he could to bring back coast city. when the guardians stripped him of his powers so he couldn't, hal became enraged and took down every lantern in his path, just to get to the guardians and that power. long story short, he kills the guardians and absorbs all the energy from the central power battery on oa, becoming parallax- essentially a god. this marks the start of zero hour, an event made by dc to restructure and reset; giving the comics a new generation of heroes. hal destroys the world and remakes it, but is ultimately taken down by kyle rayner, the new green lantern, with the help of the jla, jsa and associates. there are a few more run ins with parallax after this, before kyle convinces parallax/hal that he can make up for all of this by reigniting the sun after it went out- aka killing himself. hal does it, is stuck in limbo for awhile and then becomes the spectre to continue to make up for the horrible things he did as parallax. the spectre is the spirit of god's wrath and vengeance, a weapon used to drag sinners to their very own, self made hells, and scare the shit out of people. the spectre, from it's very first appearance, is a ghost like spirit that takes on a host, and is primarily described using christian terms and is used in a very... christian ideology. HOWEVER, the spectre 2001 confirms that hal is jewish (jewish mom, catholic dad) and that belief system, plus his personality as a whole, literally makes him change the spirit of vengeance into the spirit of redemption, for at least as long as they are bonded. the whole parallax to spectre arc is about grief, pain, cycles of abuse and terror, redemption and guilt. it is NOT about a fear bug that possess hal. (im so serious though, the spectre 2001 is one of the best comics ive ever read. amazing. changed my world view) but... geoff johns changed all of it, decanonized the spectre, and ruined the legacy of parallax and hal's growth as a person by releasing green lantern: rebirth in 2004/2005. this retcons hal's breakdown and journey through grief into him BEING POSSESSED BY AN ENTITY CONTROLLED BY SINESTRO THAT FULLY CHANGES PREVIOUS GREEN LANTERN CANON AND IMPLICATIONS. also, fucks up the importance of kyle becoming ion, but whatever. geoff johns writes hal (and even more so, carol) so very wrong, and change their stories so vastly in ways that go against the stories very meanings.

SIGH.

now... time to get started on some rougher stuff. hal jordan misconceptions. i'm saving that arc for last.

- hal jordan wasn't much of a rule breaker or rebel until the 70s/80s, where he BEGAN (very slowly, mind you) to be radicalized by oliver queen during denny o'neil's green lantern/green arrow. hal was painted as more of a conservative during this period (which, admittedly, kind of goes against previous canon... he's always been relatively central to liberal, not to any extremes like ollie though, lol) but gets more and more understanding of how power structures work and how lower classes are mistreated during this time- which ends up opening his eyes a bit to how shitty the guardians are. (this is helped by the guardians literally just. leaving. the green lanterns and kind of disbanding them so they can go fuck the zamarons, lmao). geoff johns tried to change this narrative into making hal a very... maverick-from-top-gun type of character, who punched his way out of the military (when, in reality, the original story during emerald knights in the late 90s was that hal had been framed for stealing a jet and was dishonorably discharged, which he took the punishment for because he knew someone had to) and hits on women constantly and gets ladies and allat (which, funnily enough hal was awful at getting carol to like him for a long time, since carol fell for green lantern rather than hal. not to mention the awkwardness of carol's proposals or hal's many, many failed relationships). hal has always been insecure and lowkey boyfailure, he is NOT a top gun maverick tom cruise sorta guy! fuck you jeremy adams!

- hes not that much of an idiot asshole. hal can be a real dick, he's had that going for him since the beginning, but he isn't what you read in batfam fics. he's not stupid and shouldn't be the laughingstock of the justice league. i assume this idea started from the obsession with batfam and the fact that the jla has quite the history of ignoring hal and his issues (as well as. all of their issues. theyre not so great at work life balance), but it's gone too far. hal isn't making fun of the robins and pissing bruce off bc of that. hal isnt fooling around on the job 24/7 (he takes being a gl and pilot VERY seriously, although he does enjoy some danger and high stakes) or slacking off to get girls. again. not top gun maverick.

- hal has not been a creep since the beginnings. hal was not weird with carol in the 60s. things were weird between them, yeah, but that's based off circumstance and the craziness of star sapphire and green lantern. he was NOT being horribly sleazy! i hate that i even need to say this, but i see this take too much not to

- going off of what was said above, lets discuss the arisia arc. if you want to be a real hal fan, this is unfortunately something you need to know about. in action comics, after crisis and the guardians left to go fuck the zamarons, most of the green lanterns fell apart and seperated. a small group went to earth- led by hal and consisting of hal, john stewart, katma tui, kilowog, salaakk, ch'p and arisia rrab. (also sometimes guy gardner, but that's complicated) previously to this arc, hal treated 14 year old arisia like a beloved little sister, welcoming her and leading her into the corps just like everyone else. things started to change once the timeline gets closer and closer to crisis, where arisia starts showing that she has a crush on hal (who is roughly 30s at this point). any advances made by arisia are shut down by hal at the beginning, because she's a child. now, it's unfortunately a common thing to just call hal a "pedophile" because of what happens in this arc- but it really isn't that simple. still weird and icky, but definitely not to the degree of which some fans like to act like it is- esp to attack hal fans for, which is... an odd choice regarding how many fucked up things every character (esp male characters) did back in the day. arisia ends up using her power ring to artifically age herself up, making her body AND MIND into that of a young adult (the comic makes this very clear). once this happens... hal stops rejecting her. they get together, they kiss. the only person in the group of green latnerns who actually has an issue with it is john (salaakk is meh about it, but he just doesn't like human-esque romance no matter what), and katma even directly encourages their relationship. kilowog ends up crushing on arisia as well, and guy gardner hits on her repeatedly throughout the whole period. eventually, hal and arisia break up, but this legacy (thank so much englehart, for wrtiting this. /sarc) is a big controversy among the comics crowd. "is hal jordan a predator?" personally, and i know a lot of friends/mutuals/other gl fans choose to erase the arisia arc entirely (versus how canon ended up retconning it to be 14 earth years is equal to that of an adult and she didn't really get super ages up, or whatever) and go with the familial relationship between hal and her. that's my preferred version! i know red (@katmaatui) has explored that version as well as an alternate version where the arisia arc did happen, and how it affects arisia in particular, which is really depressing but super interesting. anyway, it's complicated and weird and nuanced, but that whole occurence doesn't mean hal's a bad character or person (cause yk. retcons) and it's certainly not bad to like his character. (definitely ignore any guy gardner fans who try to bitch about this arc. cough cough. guy was ALSO into her and hit on her repeatedly. smfh) most people who bring this up to demonize fans didn't even read the arc, and don't know the nuance or the other weird shit that happens in it. (hal is not a horse, sigh)

OVERALL NOTES!

hal jordan is a super complicated character with an extensive history spanning from the 60s to his worse written appearances in modern age. it's okay to like any version of the character, but it is important to note the changes that have been made, the storylines butchered and lost, and more. he has quite the legacy, and he's particularly interesting as from a moral standpoint. hal's a real sweetie though, when it gets down to it! he's neurodivergent coded (imo at least.. his dad very much gets onto him for being disrtracted, hes kinda shit at social interaction (and then amazing at it the other half of the time) etc etc. "spacecase") and his dad is an abusive asshole, who he desperately doesnt want to be like but thinks he NEEDS to be like!

#i really dont know how to fit this last stuff in so its going in the tags #hal has quite the homoerotic tension relationship with his nemesis (but also close friend) sinestro #they repeatedly come back to each other and long to be alongside eachother #despite all the shit they hate about one another and their respective organizations #check out more of red's stuff for sinhal for sure lmao #for other hal relationships...#hal has a complicated relationship with his brothers and mother (at least when they were all alive)#hes very close friends with oliver queen (and dinah lance by proxy) and quite a lot of fans (me included) think theres some tension there.#homos!#he has a niece (helen jordan!) who is featured in the spectre and who he loves very much #hal and john are proclaimed best friends and care deeply for each other #hal and guy fight a lot but theyre in a similar boat #kyle looks up to hal quite a lot and hal is.... complicated about kylre #a lot of people ship hal and barry and i get why. its cute #not my fav though i think its overdone #hal jordan and carol ferris are so fucking important to eachother its SO important.#they need eachother in a wya thats confusing and sometimes toxic #idk what else to say feel free to ask more questions #sorry for the rant #and sorry that i mostly focused on 60s to early ish 00s thats my expertise #mordie answers #mordie speaks #hal jordan #green lantern #ch: who has time for heavenly things #uhhh #hal explanation #ok bye #hal jordan analysis #gl

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heartbreak-sandwich · 10 months

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💌Red Letters to Nowhere💌

A/N: Chapter 2 is FINALLY here! Thank you for being so patient with me. I've been having a hard time writing the longer winded chapters lately. In Chapter 2, your first day at your new school wasn't as bad as you thought it would be -- that is, until the day ends, and Billy is less than thrilled with your choice of new friends (angst incoming - no other content warnings for this one).

Read on Ao3 ❤️‍🔥 Chapter One 📖 Master List 🌈

💌CHAPTER TWO: Certain Type of People💌

You spit your toothpaste into the sink, rinsing the last of it down the drain, and jumped with a gasp when you straightened back up to see Billy standing behind you in the mirror. He chuckled and patted you lightly on the back before greeting you with sleep still lingering in his voice.

“Morning, new kid.” He smiled as he opened the mirror cabinet and grabbed his own toothbrush, slathering it with a thick line of toothpaste before getting to work, brushing back and forth vigorously, still smirking around his mouthful.

“Morning,” you mumbled, putting your toothbrush back in its spot in the cabinet and closing it, realizing Billy’s sharp, blue eyes still connected with yours in the mirror. “What?” you asked, your cheeks tinting pink at the heat of his stare. Billy just shrugged, still keeping his eye contact until he pushed past you to spit his toothpaste into the sink. You rolled your eyes and left the bathroom, trudging to Max’s room to make sure she was ready to leave for school.

Max was slinging her backpack over her shoulder, her skateboard resting under her opposite arm, and she looked up as you entered her room. You could tell she was nervous even though you were sure she would never admit it out loud.

“You ready?” She gave you a quick nod, and you turned back the way you came, making your way into the kitchen with Max on your heels. You grabbed the three pieces of toast you had prepared before you finished getting ready and handed one to Max who quickly crunched a bite out of it. You both traveled to the living room where your backpack was waiting.

Billy appeared just a moment later in his denim jacket with a cigarette ready between his lips, keys jingling in his hand. You handed him one of the pieces of toast, and he looked at you like you were insane.

“What’s this?” he asked around his cigarette, glaring down at the offering.

“Breakfast,” you answered, crunching a bite out of your own toast. He finally accepted the toast from your outstretched hand, squinting with suspicion at the kind gesture.

“Thanks, I guess,” he mumbled before striding past you and Max to open the front door. He didn’t wait for either of you as he approached his Camaro, quickly sliding into the driver’s seat and starting the engine with a loud roar. “You guys coming or what? We’re going to be late!” Billy was already impatient. That didn’t take long.

You and Max exchanged a puzzled look before you both exited the home, closing the door behind you, and got into Billy’s car. The ride to school was silent with the exception of crunching toast until Billy grumbled.

“God damn, I can hear everybody chewing in this fucking car,” he hissed before pushing a cassette tape into the player and turning the volume up to an earsplitting level, Judas Priest’s You Got Another Thing Coming rattling the speakers as his led foot kicked in, and he sped down the road toward town.

When you reached the Hawkins High parking lot, the three of you got out of the car, and Billy didn’t look back at you or Max as he slammed his door, flicking his cigarette onto the asphalt and strutting toward the front of the building. The ogling eyes of each girl he walked past were so painfully obvious, it almost made you sick to your stomach. The worst part was the arrogance that oozed out of him with every swaggering step he took and every high five and clap on the back he received from the boys that approached him. He loved this.

“Ugh,” Max scoffed.

“Yep,” you said dryly, knowing she had just come to the same conclusion you did. The two of you exchanged a look before meandering toward the front of the building, Max hopping on her skateboard and veering off to the right to find the Hawkins Middle entrance.

After a visit to the office where Janice, the school secretary with way-too-long purple nails, presented you with your class schedule and a scrap of paper with your locker number and combination on it, you managed to find its location without having to ask anyone - thank God. You were busy fighting with your combination lock when you felt someone run into you from the back.

You stumbled forward, dropping the stack of papers Janice had given you as they flowed all over the floor. You immediately felt embarrassment wash over you as you squatted down to collect them, trying to put them back in order, and you noticed a pair of Nike sneakers and bent denim clad knees in front of you. A boy in a green sweater with tall chestnut hair was helping to gather your papers.

“Sorry about that,” he apologized, handing you the remainder of your paperwork. “Tommy doesn’t know when to use his inside manners.” He looked at you with friendly, hazel eyes and a warm, crooked smile. You both stood up at the same time.

“Don’t worry about it,” you finally said quietly, hoping he wouldn’t notice the blush growing on your cheeks. “And thanks.” He nodded, his smile unwavering.

“Anytime.” He held out his hand. “Steve Harrington. You’re new here, right?” You took his hand, giving it a firm shake.

“Yeah, I am. I’m Y/N.” Steve nodded again and looked like he was about to say something more before a boy with short brown hair and freckles appeared at his side and punched him in the shoulder.

“Don’t be rude, Harrington. Are you going to introduce us to your new friend?” Tommy nodded in your direction as a shorter girl with long brown hair and a pink sweater slid out from behind him as he draped his arm over her shoulders. She blew a bubble and popped her gum as she eyed you up and down, waiting for Steve to oblige Tommy’s request.

“Y/N, this is Tommy Hagan and Carol Perkins,” Steve said through a sigh as he gestured to each of them respectively. Before Tommy and Carol could join the conversation, the morning bell rang, and the sea of students started to part in different directions.

“I’ve got to get going,” you told them with a soft wave. “It was nice to meet you guys.”

“See you around!” Steve called after you as you beelined for your first class at the end of the hall. You sucked in a deep breath before entering the classroom, praying the teacher wouldn’t make you stand at the head of the class and introduce yourself.

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By the time lunch rolled around, you were exhausted. You made your way back to your locker to exchange your textbooks for your copy of The Outsiders. You were ready for a break, so you decided to explore outside beyond the football field to find a place to read. On your way outside, you passed by Billy who was standing in a circle of people wearing expensive shoes and letterman’s jackets, all talking loudly about someone named Tina who was hosting a party that Friday. You met his eyes, but only briefly because he quickly looked away to refocus his attention on the conversation in his circle, obviously not wanting to be bothered. Go figure.

Beyond the football field, you found the edge of a seemingly thick forest. Breaking through the line of trees, you walked for a few minutes until you noticed a picnic table in a small clearing. It was a neat little spot, and you wondered what it was doing all the way out here. You didn’t see anyone else around, so you set your backpack down on the table and took a seat at one of the mossy benches, opening your paperback and immediately losing yourself in its pages.

After a few moments, the rustling of leaves startled you. Your head snapped in the direction of the sound to meet the gaze of a pair of friendly, deep brown doe eyes nestled beneath a mess of long, dark, curly hair.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you,” the man said, holding up a hand. “Are you…here to buy?” You stared at him, perplexed.

“Buy?” You furrowed your brows and continued to stare.

“Or not,” he deduced with a grin. “People don’t usually come all the way out here unless they’re looking for me.”

“Oh,” you responded flatly. “Sorry. I didn’t realize this was somebody’s spot. I just wanted a quiet place to read.”

“During the lunch hour?” He smirked at you and crossed his arms. “Come to think of it, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen you before.”

“You haven’t. I just moved here.”

“A month into the school year?” He whistled loudly. “Rough.” He took a seat on the bench across from you, clattering a black lunch box onto the table in front of him. “I’m Eddie.” He held out his hand for you to shake, and you obliged.

“I’m Y/N.” He made surprisingly deep eye contact and smiled as he repeated your name.

“Y/N. Charmed.” You blushed slightly and hoped Eddie didn’t notice, but his grin made it obvious that he did.

You surveyed the patches and pins on his denim vest – Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest. His style was different, alternative, and he noticed you eyeing him.

“You like music?” he asked with a twinkle in his eye, clasping his hands together and resting his elbows on the table.

“Sure. I can tell you do, too,” you answered with a cheeky smile.

“Is it that obvious?” He scoffed and looked down at his hands for a moment. “Do you smoke?”

“I never really liked the smell of cigarettes.” You scrunched up your nose at the thought, and Eddie cleared his throat with a chuckle.

“Uh, not that kind of smoke.” A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth as he waited for you to answer.

“I don’t get it.” Eddie sighed and rolled his eyes.

“Grass? Weed? Do you smoke weed?” You felt embarrassment rise to your cheeks as you responded.

“Oh, right. I have before, but it’s not a regular thing,” you answered, fidgeting with your book on the table.

“Consider it a welcome gift,” Eddie declared, opening his lunch box and handing you a small baggie with a tiny green nugget inside.

“Oh…thanks, I guess.” You gave him a kind smile as you pocketed your baggie and closed your book.

“Don’t mention it.” Eddie closed up his lunchbox and stood up from his bench. “Tragic news on the horizon.”

“What’s that?” Eddie let out a long, exaggerated sigh.

“It’s about time to get back to class.”

“Oh, right A travesty.” You slung your backpack over your shoulder and continued to make small talk with Eddie as you both marched your way back to the school, parting ways when you emerged into the foyer.

What you hadn’t noticed was a pair of blue eyes burning into you from across the parking lot as they watched you walk into the building with Eddie Munson by your side and a smile on your face.

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The rest of the day went relatively smooth, but you were glad to be heading home after so much excitement. Returning to your locker a final time, you collected your study necessities for the night.

“Hey,” a familiar voice greeted as you slammed your locker closed.

“Oh, hi,” you answered. Eddie’s smile widened when you returned his greeting. “I just wanted to ask you –”

“Y/N!” Billy’s voice boomed in the hallway over every other sound, causing passersby to stare in your direction.

“Billy.” Your voice was small. Why was he yelling at you?

“Time to go,” he said flatly, staring daggers into Eddie whose face fell into a frown.

“Sure,” you answered. “Just one second. Eddie wanted to ask me –”

“I’m not your fuckin’ chauffeur. I don’t wait. Let’s go. Now,” Billy demanded, his voice getting louder by the second, hands balling into fists at his sides.

“It’s okay. I’ll catch you tomorrow,” Eddie conceded with a tight lipped smile and a half wave as he hurried in the opposite direction of where Billy stood. You scoffed and glared at Billy before pushing past him and stomping out to the parking lot.

Max was already waiting beside the blue Camaro when you arrived with Billy sauntering behind you with his usual swagger, taking a moment to wave at some girls who were giggling and whispering as they crossed his path. You rolled your eyes and opened the passenger door for Max to get into the back seat before seating yourself and slamming the door closed.

Billy’s mood was icy, and you could practically feel the eggshells under your feet as soon as he sat down.

“Don’t slam my door,” he said flatly, keeping his gaze fixed straight ahead.

“Don’t be a dick to me in front of my friends,” you countered, folding your arms across your chest. “Eddie ‘The Freak’ Munson is not your friend.”

“Right. Because you get to decide who my friends are.” You glared out your window, wishing you could be anywhere else when –

“Hey!” Billy grabbed your wrist hard enough to get your attention and held it up as he spoke through gritted teeth, his menacing eyes searing into yours. “There are a certain type of people in this world you stay away from.” Billy’s grip on you tightened, and your eyes brimmed with tears. “And that guy, Y/N,” he seethed, squeezing harder. “That guy is one of them.”

Billy shoved your wrist back into you, and you turned your body to look out your window again. You could see Max’s worried expression in the side view mirror as a tear escaped and ran down your cheek. What the fuck was his problem?

The rest of the drive home was silent, and Billy didn’t utter another word or even look in your direction again until dinner time.

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You were setting the table when he entered the dining room and took his usual seat.

“Smells great, Susan,” he gushed with a sickeningly sweet smile.

“Thank you, Billy,” your mom replied, pressing a hand to her heart. “It’ll be ready in just one second.” She hadn’t stopped talking about how impressed she was with Billy’s manners since she met him. You rolled your eyes at his display. What a kiss ass. You could feel his eyes on you as you finished your task and sat down across the table from him, but you avoided making eye contact.

After a couple of minutes of silence, Billy fidgeted with his knife, tapping and scraping it on his plate before sighing dramatically, tipping his chair backward onto two legs. You finally looked at him, and he was still staring directly at you.

“Did you want something?” You weren’t amused by his method of garnering your attention, and you were even less thrilled with the way he had spoken to you earlier. Billy leaned forward in his chair and rested his hands on the table, speaking in a hushed voice.

“I wanted to say sorry. For earlier.” Your eyebrows shot up in surprise at his apology.

“Okay, I guess. Thanks,” you answered tentatively, your eyes narrowing.

“I just –” he shifted in his seat again and chewed on the inside of his cheek as he chose his words carefully. “I have a reputation to uphold, you know? The pressure is indescribable, but it has its perks. If people see you hanging around with The Freak and they know you’re my –” he stopped as if saying the word “sister” might induce vomiting. “If they know that you live here, and we’re…associated, then I start to take the flack. Do you get what I’m saying?” You nodded slowly and scoffed, looking down at your empty plate.

“I understand what you’re saying, but I think it’s stupid,” you retorted. Billy’s expression didn’t change.

“It might be stupid, but it’s better to be on top than to be one of them,” he said dryly, leaning back in his seat again, looking at you through hooded eyes.

“To each his own.” Billy nodded at your response when your mom piped up from the kitchen.

“Come and get it!” Both of you rose from your seats and parted ways, Billy going towards the kitchen and you heading to Max’s room to tell her dinner was ready.

You poked your head in through Max’s door and rapped on the doorframe.

“Hey,” you said, stepping over the threshold into her room.

“Hi,” she greeted, looking up at you from her bed. You could instantly tell she had something on her mind.

“Dinner’s ready. You okay?” She nodded and looked away from you for a moment before answering fully.

“I just – I didn’t like seeing Billy talk to you like that earlier in the car.” Max locked eyes with you, and you frowned.

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize. He does.” Max was angry. Injustice never sat well with her, especially when it came to her big sister.

“He did,” you reassured, and her eyes widened in surprise.

“Really?”

“Yep,” you affirmed, nodding slowly. Max was quiet as she processed the unexpected news, and she finally stood up, setting her comic book down on her pillow.

“Didn’t see that one coming.”

“Neither did I,” you agreed.

*Tag List: @lithium80sblog @justsimonrileythings @b1tchy3lf @jozstankovich @darleenjade @jenna-jd @peachyaliien @dananahenderson @strangerthing933 @yoyokiss97 @californiaboytoybilly - if you want to be added, let me know! 💕

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